Decoding the E. coli outbreak

The decoded genetic code of the EHEC bacteria O104 on a computer screen at a laboratory of the Eppendorf University clinic (UKE) in the northern German city of Hamburg on June 2.

AFP reports:

The World Health Organisation warned Europe was seeing the first outbreak of a lethal new bacteria, as its death toll climbed to 18, all but one them in Germany. The WHO advisory came as German and Chinese researchers said they had cracked the genetic code of the E. coli strain, which they said in a preliminary analysis was resistant to antibiotics and extremely virulent.